


Under the Sea

by Chyeahlex16



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Lance, But everything changed when the humans wanted to harness the power of the Ocean, Communication issues are solved with WRITTEN WORDS YO, Coran as Sebastian, Gay Keith, Gen, Happy Ending, Hunk and Allura as siblings, Keith as Prince Eric, King Alfor as King Triton, Lance as Ariel, Lance especially bc who doesn't love Lance??, Little Mermaid AU, Long ago the humans and merfolk lived together in harmony, Lotor as an evil advisor, M/M, Nyma and Rolo as Flounder, Pidge as Scuttle, Shiro as Keith's cousin, Slow To Update, So the Ocean is like an entity who really loves her mermaid children, Temporary Character Death, Will add tags as I go, haggar as ursula, hahaaa this bitch changed shit up one chapter in
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-02-08 17:44:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12869742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chyeahlex16/pseuds/Chyeahlex16
Summary: Long ago, humans and merfolk lived alongside each other peacefully, until distrust and greed lead to the humans betraying and abusing the merfolk, prompting a war that ended in devastation on both sides. King Alfor and the Galra King created a peace treaty with one condition: Humans and mermaids are NOT to interact with each other again.Lance has always been fascinated by humans and their customs, always collecting what he finds in shipwrecks and going to the surface to people-watch the humans that sail on ships. For years, he has watched one human in particular: the human prince called Keith. Despite the warnings of his family, he can't help his curiosity, his burning desire and longing to know and be a part of the human world. When the opportunity arises, will he regret taking the chance and the challenge the sea witch presented him? Or can he manage to capture the heart of the human prince who unknowingly captured his long ago?-Little Mermaid AU (with quite a few twists) that I've been dying to write. Will be slow to update, but I'll do my best!





	1. So It Begins

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with a new fic! I've been dying to write this fic for ages, but university sure takes up a lot of your time, doesn't it? I'll do my best to update at least once a month, maybe more if I can swing it!

The ocean lay still and peaceful as the sun grew nearer and nearer to the horizon, casting a darkness on the surface where waves lulled gently with the breeze and the current deep within. Few creatures milled about, content to follow the current wherever it took them. It was peaceful; quiet. Calm.

Until--

"Come _on_ , Rolo, keep up with us or you'll get left behind!" Prince Lance called behind him and his companion Nyma.

A huff sounded right after, though it seemed labored. "I'm trying! You _know_ I don't swim well after eating!"

A higher voice laughed at that. "That's a lame excuse, Rolo, and you know it!"

The three merfolk rounded up together despite their laughs, the two ahead slowing down for the one behind to catch up. Lance knew very well that it wasn't wise for them to be exploring, especially this close to sundown, but his need for adventure--and more human artifacts for his collection--outweighed his desire to avoid the consequences.

"The faster we get there, the sooner we can see if there's anything I don't already have," Lance reasoned, knowing Rolo was concerned about their adventuring despite the fact that he wouldn't say anything.

"Besides," Nyma reasoned, flipping her golden mane of hair behind her and out of her face as she swam beside them. "We'll be fine. Nothing happened last time, right?"

"Right," Rolo drawled, though his face was one of suspicion.

"Then what could go wrong?"

Rolo's eyes widened, and he tugged on the ends of his long hair, tied into a ponytail out of his face. "Don't say that!" He whined, though he chuckled despite himself. "You're asking for trouble, saying things like that."

Lance rolled his eyes and picked up his pace, forcing his friends to stop talking and work to catch up. He could see the looming figure of the ship in the distance, growing bigger as they drew nearer. This was one of Lance's favorite things to do--he loved exploring sunken shipwrecks for human artifacts, loved adding them to his growing collection. He was fascinated by the lives of humans, fascinated by the prospect of living on _land_. He'd collected numerous things from various shipwrecks, but his favorite item to collect by far had to be the _books_. Those he kept in trunks on the shore of his little hideaway cavern, dry and safe for him to read whenever he made the time--which he did often. He loved reading in his spare time, loved learning about the strange imagined worlds the humans came up with.

It was in those times that he was at least somewhat grateful for the history between merfolk and humankind. He'd heard the stories from his parents numerous times, and couldn't help feeling saddened by the way things were now. They'd lived peacefully alongside each other, merfolk and humans, aiding each other with technology and food and language--hence Lance's ability to read the books he found. There was peace--until the humans grew wary of the merfolk, and the merfolk likewise grew wary of the humans and their intentions.

"Humans like their power," King Alfor, Lance's father, always said. "When they learned of our magic, our bond with the ocean, they did not like that they didn't have control over our home, over us. They believed it was a power they could harness, a power we were keeping from them; they wanted it badly. So badly that they kidnapped one of our own."

The mermaid they'd kidnapped had been King Alfor's eldest sister, Moira. She had a love for humans known by all, a detail carried down in all the stories. They'd taken her, experimented and tortured her in the hopes that she would tell them what they wanted. But it was all in vain--unable to give them what they wanted, she was tortured to death, leaving Alfor as the next in line to take the throne. The humans who'd kidnapped her, leaders of the Galra kingdom, had presented her body and dumped her in the ocean for her family and people to see. It was a sign clear as day: it meant war.

Enraged and wracked with grief, Alfor, the merfolk, and the ocean herself fought against Galra kingdom and their allies, drowning ship after ship and destroying the architecture of the land in vicious hurricanes and tsunamis. The Galra ruthlessly captured and killed many merfolk soldiers, often returning them to the sea in the worst conditions.

It was a war that went on for decades. It took a toll on many on both sides; Lance had been born long after the war, but his eldest siblings and elderly neighbors would tell him of the times they could barely remember, when his father did not have that stern, constant frown, when his face was not marred by the scars and stress of war, when heart had not been hardened by the blood and cries of his people and the people of land. There were things his father had seen and lived through that haunted him to this day, decades later. He and the Galra King finalized a peace treaty that ended the war--and the relationship between humankind and merfolk. The Ocean, who had taken her mutilated children in her arms of seafoam and eased them into the foam of her embrace, was calm once again, and humans allowed their children to walk in the sun once again. Peace, however tense and late-coming, was achieved.

The King found love in his wife, the late Queen, and slowly but surely the kingdom began to pick up the pieces and mend. Soon there was light again, and the merfolk flourished and thrived anew. It helped, of course, to see their hardened king open his heart and lead with a kind heart; it helped even more to see that heart softened with each of his children. And although the light in his eyes darkened with the passing of his queen, shortly after the birth of Lance, his kingdom was there for him. Just as he was strong for his kingdom during the war, they were strong for him during their mourning.

"Lance!"

Startled out of his thoughts, Lance turned to look at Nyma. She raised a thin brow at him, but pointed ahead, already used to his habit of getting lost in thought. He followed her finger to the shipwreck that had grown much closer than he'd realized. He shot her a grateful grin and shot off into the gaping opening at the hull of the ship.

"Come on!" He called behind him, ignoring the exasperated groan of Rolo and the amused snicker of Nyma.

He searched through every nook and cranny of the hull, amazed at the amount of random knick-knacks everywhere. A lot of them he knew the names of--there were forks and spoons and knives, and plenty of human clothing in the trunks. He was quite fond of the bowls and plates that held things, particularly liquids, on land. But there were other things he didn't recognize, things he hadn't had the chance to take to his "Land Consultant," as she liked to be called. The object holding his attention in particular was round, with a thin chain hanging off a small hoop at what Lance assumed was the object's top. There was a small knob just before the hoop, and Lance pressed it with his thumb, blinking and jerking slightly when the golden surface popped open to reveal a white surface underneath. It was marked with numbers, and had two black lines pointing at different numbers, one longer than the other.

He had no certain idea of what it could be, but he tucked it away into the bag at his waist for safekeeping. He swam forward to another area of the hull, but stopped abruptly, going defensively rigid all over as he caught a scent that had red flags going off in his head.

"Rolo, Nyma," he called lowly to his friends, afraid to talk louder than a murmur.

Luckily his friends heard him. "What, Lance?" Rolo drawled, voice close to a whine as he turned away from the trunk he was inspecting. Nyma also looked up, her own form going still as she took in Lance's body language. "What do you--"

"Rolo," Nyma said, voice just as hushed as Lance's. This caught Rolo's attention, eyes widening and stance mirroring his friends'. He looked between the two, eyes landing on Lance with a silent question. They drifted closer toward their prince, eyes scanning everywhere as they did for danger.

"What is it?" Nyma whispered, eyes peering into the darkness of the ocean outside the shipwreck.

"I smell something," Lance murmured, slowly drifting to follow the scent against his better judgment. "It smells like..."

They all locked onto the source of the smell right as Nyma uttered the word.

"Blood," she breathed in horror.

A mangled corpse, too mutilated to identify what it was before its gruesome death, hovered twenty feet away from them, trails of blood thick in the water around it. The creature at fault was in the middle of the cloud, a great white shark still in the heat of a frenzy. In silent agreement, the three mermaids swam backwards, keeping their eyes locked on the predator before them--but this was their mistake, Lance realized as he felt Nyma stiffen at his side, her body having bumped into one of the various stacks of trunks. It fell into the side of the ship with a loud thunk, deafeningly loud in the silence of the sea.

For two blissful seconds, nothing happened. But then the shark was swimming their way at frightening speed, and Lance's instincts kicked in.

"Swim back now!" He shouted, pushing his friends into action. They shot off as fast as they could, but Lance easily took the lead, a much faster swimmer than the two of them. He grabbed their hands, tugging them behind him and pushing himself to swim harder, slicing through water to put as much distance between them and the shark as possible. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, fear and his determination to keep his friends safe fueling him. The shark swam after them, hot on their tails.

Suddenly, a high pitched trill reached them in the water, alarmed, concerned, and wonderfully familiar to Lance.

"Blue!" He called, and sent an urgent trill back to the creature in question. He followed the sound of the answering call and gained a burst of speed when he spotted the pod of dolphins swimming towards them. There were eight of them total, all familiar to Lance, but the one he'd addressed swam to him the fastest, giving him a spiel of concerned clicks and squeaks and urging her pod to surround the three mermaids protectively. The shark halted, threatened and outnumbered, backing away from the aggressively circling pod and leaving before a confrontation could begin.

"That," Rolo heaved as they drifted together amongst the dolphins, "is why we _don't_ go to places we aren't supposed to go!"

Lance frowned, breathing heavily himself. "They don't usually lurk around the shipwrecks," he said. "He must've chased his prey pretty far if it got him here."

But that was an issue to think about another time. Right now, he was among friends, family even. He turned to Blue, the dolphin who'd taken a maternal liking to him since he was much younger. She and her ever-growing pod came by when they migrated; she always tried to visit him, and he tried to catch her whenever he knew she'd be around. She was very fond of him, protective and fierce, and he loved her to bits.

"How you doing, Blue?" He asked, caressing the sleek skin beneath her watchful eye.

She chattered back to him, expressing her concern for him with the shark incident, and telling him of the newest developments with her pod. The others crowded around the three mermaids, pitching in with their own squeaks and clicks here and there. Lance listened through the Ocean, who allowed him to understand their clicks and squeaks.

 _Come next season, we will have new young,_ Blue was telling him, a happy glint in her eye.

Lance's heart swelled with joy. "You're having a baby, Blue?" He cried, grinning from ear to ear.

She clicked a confirmation. _Ophelia and I._

Ophelia wasn't the dolphin's actual name--just as Blue wasn't Blue's true name--but Lance had given them all names when he'd met them, most of them stemming from the books and stories he'd read in the books he'd collected.

"That's amazing!"

"Lance," Nyma interrupted, and her anxious tone caught his attention instantly. "Lance, your concert! The presentation performance! That's _tonight!_ "

Lance's heart stopped in his chest as panic overtook him. How could he forget the ceremony he has been looking forward to since he was a young guppy watching his elder sisters perform before the kingdom for their presentation at 72 seasons? This was the biggest day of his life--and by the lack of sunlight penetrating the waters, it seemed he was in danger of missing his own performance.

"We gotta go, Blue!" Lance shouted in panic, hurriedly kissing her nose and swimming past her. "Visit the kingdom soon!"

He gave a parting trill and took the hands of his friends again, dragging them along with him as he swam in the direction of home. The back of his neck ran hot, his stomach twisting with anxiety. He was fast, he told himself. He could make it in time, surely! They couldn't be _too_ upset if he was a little late, right?

He didn't feel an ounce of relief until he let go of Rolo and Nyma's hands to let them join the crowd while he went to the stage. He froze, suddenly unsure of where to go.

“Prince Lance!” Coran, the royal advisor, flapped fins wildly, waving him over. Lance had never been happier to see the manta ray. Lance swam as fast as he could, following Coran as he led Lance over to a small corner of the stage. Merfolk were still settling themselves in the warm sand below them, chattering excitedly to each other. Just seeing them sent a flurry of excited nerves through Lance’s tummy in anticipation of his performance. His father and eldest sister Allura sat to the side of the stage in the crowd, waiting for the show to begin. Allura often stuck to their father's side; as the future Queen, she wanted to learn as much as she possibly could, becoming King Alfor's shadow.

“You’re lucky I love you dearly, my boy,” Coran muttered to him. “Your parents would have your head for this!”

“Thank you, Coran!” Lance said as he drifted to his place on stage. “I owe you one!”

Coran _hrrumphed_ as he drifted away to his place beside the king and eldest princess. “You owe me more than one, little guppy.”

The crowd hushed as their attention went to their youngest prince. He hovered center-stage, back straight, head high, looking them over with a small smile on his face. He'd be lying if he said he didn't like the attention.

The band began to play their music, soft and sweet, and Lance took a breath and opened his mouth, melodies just as sweet drifting into the current of the sea. He was adored by his subjects for his charm and his voice, often told that the Ocean herself had adored him so much that she gave him the most beautiful voice in the sea. As much as he liked the praise and attention, he couldn't help dismissing their claims; he was just Lance, nothing special, he told them. He was the same as everyone else.

He sang his heart and soul out for his people, losing himself to the music and truly putting on a show. His markings began to glow, a luminescent blue hue shining from the scales along his spine and on his elbows and shoulders, a gene that had skipped every one of his siblings except for Allura. He was a sight to behold, and the applause of his people when he finished his performance warmed his heart. He swam among the first few rows, thanking people for coming and for their compliments as they all left to sleep for the night. His heart and mood were light and happy, especially with the praise of his siblings.

"You did great, Lance!" His older brother Hunk praised him.

"Thank you, brother," Lance said, leaning into the arm slung over his shoulders.

"The glowing markings were a great touch," Amara, his third eldest sister, said. "Added a very _you_ kind of flair."

Lance laughed, shrugging. "I didn't do it on purpose! It just happens whenever it wants. I can't control it."

"You'll learn," Allura said, sending him a wink. At the same time, she flashed him with the luminescence of her own markings, a bright pink to match her scale colors. She turned as their father called to her, but Lance's attention was quickly taken by the rest of his siblings.

It wasn't until his name was called that he realized he should've known the happiness of the night wouldn't last.

"Lance," Allura called, voice stern. Her stance was stoic and serious; Future-Queen Mode initiated. "We'll need to speak to you in the throne room before you go to bed."

One look at his father's face told him everything. _They knew._

He swallowed, willing his face to remain impassive and not give himself away. "Alright," he said, plastering a smile on his face. "I'll be there soon."

He and his siblings watched as his sister and father turned to go to the throne room and wait for him, dread coiling in his gut at the thought of his guaranteed punishment.

"Did you tell, Coran?" He asked his advisor. He couldn't be mad if the manta ray had; it was his job, after all.

"No, my Prince," Coran said. "They just seem to have that sixth sense with you."

Lance sighed, resigned and unhappy, mood killed. "Good luck, little brother," Hunk said, their other siblings nodding in agreement.

Lance pressed his lips together, drifting away to face the path to the throne room, squaring his shoulders in preparation. "Time to face the music," he sighed sadly.


	2. Reprimanded and Finding Loop Holes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Lance receives his punishment and friends help friends follow their dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait everyone! Life got super hectic with finals and business to take care of over break, so there wasn't a lot of time to write. Mix in a little depression and self-doubt in this fic idea and I didn't have a lot of motivation either lmao. But! I pulled through for the people I received lovely comments from, you guys were very lovely and gave me hope, so thank you so much! 
> 
> Please enjoy and leave a comment! <3

It was times like these when Lance half wished he didn't have such a curious nature. Dread filled his stomach as he swam slowly through the castle to the throne room, passing citizens and flashing smiles he hoped didn't give away how nervous he felt. If only he weren't so curious. If only he didn't care so much about humanity and their mysteries. If only he were more like his siblings, all spending their time practicing their instruments or hanging with friends or learning more about the kingdom.

But he just couldn't help the burning curiosity in his soul that pushed him past caution and reason towards the answers in those shipwrecks, and up through the ocean surface, where the sun warmed his skin and the breeze filled his lungs. He couldn't help the part of him that thirsted for knowledge of the human world, that yearned deep down to somehow be a part of it. He knew it was impossible; you couldn't wipe out decades of war and aftermath so easily. The kind of bond humans and merfolk once had could never be had again. But oh how he wished for the chance.

All too soon, he reached the doors to the throne room. He drifted before it, not moving to go inside. His heart was pounding in his chest, but he straightened his back and held his head high, taking a deep breath before pushing through the doors to enter.

His father and sister sat in their respective thrones waiting for him at the end of the room. There were nine seats total--or, there had been, when his mother had been alive and well. Her throne had long since been removed, done when the King had been well into his grieving period, unable to sit in his throne while his Queen's remained empty beside his forever, a painful reminder. Now, its absence was just as much of a reminder, albeit less painful now that they'd all had time to mourn and heal. For the rest of his siblings, it was a reminder of someone they'd had and lost. For Lance, it was a reminder of someone he'd never had the chance to lose before they were gone. It was strange to miss someone whose touch, voice, or kiss he couldn't remember. She'd passed too soon, when he was much too young.

The sound of the door shutting behind him snapped him out of his thoughts, and he continued his calm swim toward his family members, the picture of composure on the outside while he screamed on the side in frustration and resignation.

"You had a lovely performance, my prince," Allura said pleasantly; Lance was far from reassured. She was still in Future-Queen Mode, going so far as to use her petname for him. For a moment he was taken back to his thoughts on their mother; he'd heard from his siblings and older neighbors that this was his mother's petname for him. She would call him her princeling, as she cradled him in her arms and cooed to him of all the trouble she hoped he'd get into for her while she couldn't be there to do it all with him. At least, this was what he'd been told. It filled him with a small, empty ache, missing something he'd never really had. 

But the use of the petname in this instance was quite telling. Allura only did that in two instances: when they were having a heart to heart and she wanted him to listen, or when he was in trouble and she wanted to make sure he knew that. This time was the latter.

Lance let a small smile grace his lips, not entirely ingenuine. "Thank you, sister," he said, following propriety in using their familial titles. His father preferred that he and his siblings keep it professional in the throne room regardless of who was and wasn't present. "If that is all, I'd like to retire—" He made to swim away, but froze at his sister's words.

“Not so fast, princeling,” Allura called, a thin white brow raised. “Don’t think we didn’t notice your late arrival. Although, please tell me you at least _thanked_ Coran for assisting you.”

Lance swallowed, refraining from ducking his head in shame. He cleared his throat to speak. “Of course, sister,” he said, spine straight, head tall.

“Good.” She turned to return to her seat on her throne. “I’m glad our family didn’t raise a savage.”

Where there was some bit of humor in her voice, there was none in their father's.

“We didn’t raise a savage,” King Alfor spoke up, “But apparently we did raise a prince who can’t be bothered to show up to his own presentation concert _on time_.”

Lance bristled at the insinuation; he didn't like to be painted as a spoiled prince who didn’t care about his princely duties or image. He wanted to make his father and sister proud, of course, but… he also wanted to explore, and be free to do so without being tied to his title as a prince. He wasn’t even going to be king! Why did he have to—

“Nothing to say for yourself, my prince?” Allura interrupted his thoughts; she knew Lance well enough to know when his thoughts were wandering.

“Father,” Lance groaned, dropping the prince act in his exasperation. “It’s not that at all! I care—more than you think! It’s not that I can’t be bothered—you know it isn’t like that! It’s just—“

“Just what, Lance?” His father asked, sounding just as exasperated as Lance. “Please tell me you weren’t out exploring the human ships again.”

Lance immediately went back into prince mode, back straight, head high. He bit his lip, hating to lie to his father—and ultimately unable to. He sighed, head lowering a fraction. “I can’t tell you that,” he said.

His sister dropped her head, rubbing her forehead tiredly while his father swam out of his throne and began to pace back and forth before their thrones, hand aggressively rubbing at his chin. “How many times have we told you to stay away from those shipwrecks, Lance?” King Alfor cried in frustration.

“Father, I’m sorry, but I just _can’t!_ ” Lance called back, splaying his arms as he tried to explain. “There’s so many things there that I want to collect, so many things that I haven’t seen!”

“They are _dangerous,_ Lance!”

“But nothing has happened!” Except for this time, but he wasn’t about to tell his father about it while he was in this state.

“ _Yet_ , my son. Nothing has happened _yet!_ And I don’t plan on letting you continue until something _does_. Humanity is filled with nothing but monsters! You know this!”

“But they aren’t, Father! I’ve read stories, tales of heroes and heroines who _fight_ monsters—“

“That is all fiction, Lance. Works of the imagination. We have seen the destruction that humankind is capable of causing—you are too young to have experienced it.”

“Father, I have lived sixty-eight seasons! I am not a guppy anymore!”

“My son, you will be treated as one until you stop acting like one! You are not to go to another shipwreck—end of discussion! Not another word on the matter. Am I clear?”

Lance could feel his blood boiling in frustration, could feel the urge to scream and fight against his father’s orders rising within him, but Coran’s voice filled his head with calming words, urging him to back down and avoid making his punishment worse. With a deep breath, he went back into prince mode—back straight, head high. “Yes, Father,” he said quietly, gaze trained on the white and gold scales of his father’s tail.

At the sound of his dejected son’s voice, the tension in King Alfor’s body melted, replaced with concerned stiffness. He must’ve gone too far; he looked back at his daughter on her throne. Allura’s eyes were on her brother, but she met her father’s gaze, face mirroring his concern and giving him a look that confirmed his thoughts. Sighing, the sea king returned to his throne and sat. “Good,” he said, voice much softer and almost apologetic. Lance didn’t look up. “You may go to bed with your brothers.”

Lance nodded, stiff, face clear of emotion as he shut himself down and turned to calmly swim out of the throne room.

"You know I am not one to question your decisions," Allura said in the silence of the throne room. "But I must say, I think that was a bit harsh, Father."

King Alfor sighed, passing a hand over his face. "You are right. But he is a prince, and he must learn that his adventures are far too dangerous! I know he is a smart boy, I know he knows the dangers of humanity, but his curiosity is too great. No matter how many times I, or anyone else, tell him, he doesn't listen! It's so frustrating, he's just like—"

At this, the King stiffened and stopped talking abruptly, dropping his hand from his face. His eyes were stormy, haunted by memories of the past. This had happened enough times that Allura already knew who his mind had taken him to.

"Just like Aunt Moira," she finished softly.

A heavy sigh escaped him again, this time deflating him. Oh, his sister. She did not deserve the horrors that befell her from the humans she loved so much. He had spent many nights, haunted by the images he'd never be able to forget, wondering: perhaps if she hadn't had such an intense curiosity for the humans' culture, perhaps if she hadn't been so enamored by them... Perhaps she would have lived.

He was not going to let his son's life become a "perhaps."

"I won't stand idly by and let him continue these dangerous adventures that could get him killed," King Alfor said, collecting himself. "As harsh as my punishment may be, it is for his own good. Now, please let Coran know of my decision so that he may spread the word. It will take a whole kingdom to keep that boy in line."

"He's just a free-spirit, Father," Allura said reproachfully, patting her father's shoulder. "He's never been naughty--just a little flighty. But he tries his best to make you proud and be the prince you want him to be. Be gentle. The day we dampen his spirit will be a sad day for the Ocean herself. You don't want to get on Her bad side, making her beloved child sad."

He chuckled, shaking his head as he watched his eldest daughter swim off to do as told. Oh, his children; what was he going to do with them?

* * *

The second the door behind him closed, his siblings were on him, hounding Lance for details about his discussion with their father. They got the general gist just from his expression alone.

"So what was the verdict?" Mateo, one of his older brothers, asked.

Lance couldn't stop the grimace from appearing on his face. "No more shipwrecks," he sighed, slinking through them to get to his bed.

There were several sympathetic noises from his siblings, which admittedly did make him feel a little better. They knew, better than almost any others, how much his adventures and findings meant to him. One of his sisters, Anahi, came and gently put her arms around his shoulders as he swam by.

"Sorry, little brother," she said, touching her temple to his briefly before letting him go. He shrugged in response, the sadness swirling listlessly in his chest. He reached his bed and gently sunk atop it, a heavy sigh escaping it. He felt a weight at his side and opened an eye to see his brother Hunk sitting beside him, arms open to him. Without a second's hesitation, Lance launched himself into his brother's open arms, the stinging of his eyes intensifying as he buried his face into his brother's large chest.

"It'll be okay, Lance," Hunk murmured to his younger brother. He and Hunk had always been closer in many ways--in age, in proximity, in relationship. When Lance was at the castle, they were usually attached at the hip; you couldn't find one without the other. Hunk was the second to last child, a mere 16 seasons older than Lance, far closer in age than any of his other siblings. They spent the most time together, many of his older siblings already taken with their responsibilities and unable to spend as much time with him as they'd have liked. They were there for each other, like family should be.

Finally, when the stinging in his eyes subsided, Lance released Hunk and sniffed, giving a small smile in thanks to his older brother.

"Feeling better?" Hunk asked, ruffling Lance's hair.

Huffing a laugh, Lance headbutted his brother's hand, nodding. "Yeah." Although he was soothed, the sadness in his chest was still present, heavy and obvious as he thought back to this father's words in the throne room. He had no idea how he was going to be able to adjust to cutting his adventures out of his life. He'd do it, of course; he couldn't just disobey his father like that, and he knew it was for his own good--but that didn't mean he was going to like it, nor that it would be easy for him.

“Oh, man, Hunk,” Lance sighed, curling up in the alcove above his bed and looking out the hole to gaze longingly at the surface high above them, the paleness of the moon just slightly visible. “What would it be like to live up there as a human, do you think? What does the food taste like? What does the air smell like in a _cit-ee_? What do you think people do for fun on _land_? Do they dance like we do? Do they sing and play music and have concerts the way we do, or are their methods different?”

“I don’t know, brother,” Hunk sighed with him, resting his arms next to Lance’s fins. “Your books don’t have descriptions of _everything_.”

“I just wanna find out, Hunk.” Lance finally looked at his brother, face filled with longing and sadness. “I just wanna find out.”

~

Lance was already asleep by the time Allura came to their room for bed, but he saw her when they all woke up and got ready for the day the next morning. She'd come to his mirror and helped him brush through his hair, something she used to do for him when he was much younger and unable to do it himself; a habit she still couldn't seem to break. Lance had had many motherly-figures in his life--many of the women in the kingdom that were closer to the royal family would take care of him, as well as all of his older sisters, but his oldest sister Allura was the most prominent of them all. She'd taken care of him from the moment his mother couldn't quite manage it on her own anymore--the women who cared for him had no qualms letting him know about the things he was far too young to remember, their admiration for their future queen abundant. She cared for him as much as she could, with the help of their sisters and other mermaids, taking on the responsibility as the oldest and raising him while their father grieved their mother.

"Princess Allura didn't really have time to grieve, bless the child," the mermaids would tell him as he watched them work in their homes. "How could she? With the king grieving and all these siblings and us subjects in need of leading? The poor thing was only just beginning her training, not in any shape to be ruling a kingdom--but she did, at the same time raising you and caring for the rest of your siblings. She may hold the title of a princess, but she was born a queen from the very beginning. I'm glad that once the king got his bearings he saw it too."

"She cared for you like your mother would have, princeling," an older mermaid once told him with a wink. "Loved you quite a bit; she kept you to herself as much as she possibly could, even at her busiest. Make her proud."

To make her proud was all Lance wanted; he wanted her to be proud of him, and happy the way she deserved to be. Which was why he let her have the brush and sat still for her the way he'd mastered when he was just a guppy, knowing that it frustrated her when he'd squirm, secretly relishing in the feeling of the brush and her fingers in his hair and on her scalp. Though, by her small smile in the mirror, he knew it wasn't very secret.

"Good morning, my prince," she said to him, pressing a light kiss to his forehead as he tipped his head back to look at her.

"Good morning, sister," he replied with a small smile. He couldn't be mad at her; he knew her compliance with his punishment came from a place of love and a necessary solidarity with their father. Her hands were tied just as much as his were.

"I had a thought last night," she said, continuing to run her fingers through his hair almost absently. "I thought that perhaps today you could go brush up your scales, maybe have a relaxing day? You don't have to bring anyone with you. I trust you."

He eyed her in the mirror, fighting the urge to narrow his eyes in suspicion. He didn't suspect any hidden agendas; he just wondered if perhaps she felt a bit more guilty than she let on.

"I suppose my scales could use a brush up," he said, even though they both knew that was a lie. Lance was known for being impeccable with his self-care routine, not one to "waste" the beauty the Ocean had graced him with. But if he was guessing her intentions, it seemed she wanted to give him a day of adjustment alone, free for him to do as he pleased. And he was not one to waste opportunities.

"Good," she said. "Please be back in time for dinner. And be careful." 

She took his face in her hands and pressed an affectionate kiss to his forehead again before turning to leave. His siblings, those who hadn't already left yet, smiled at the gesture. They all had a tendency to dote on their youngest brother; he was the only one who hadn't gotten to know their mother, who hadn't gotten to experience her affection, nor their father's in combination with hers. Their father was a changed merman when their mother died, much sterner and stoic. Gone was the merman who tickled his children to hear them laugh, or took them through the kingdom to show them all the secret wonders that he and his own siblings had discovered when they were guppies before the war. Left in his place was a king hardened by loss and grief, shaped by it and the lingering fear of losing anything--or anyone--else.

They tried to compensate for this lack by giving him as much affection as they could. In a way, Lance was almost spoiled; but his siblings felt sadness that he would never have the affection of their mother that they had taken for granted.

Lance's thoughts were occupied the whole way to his favorite sanding spot, all of them chasing each other in his head. There was little to make sense of; they all just amassed into one bundle of emotions and feelings. Longing. Sadness. A touch of bitterness. A bit of despair and helplessness. He felt almost trapped, as though an invisible chain were wrapped around his tail, keeping him tethered against his will to the palace boundaries. What he would give to be free...

“Psst,” a voice whispered in his ear, startling him out of his melancholy thoughts. He blinked, turning to find Rolo and Nyma grinning at him brightly. It cheered him up a little to see them; he couldn’t help giving a small grin back. “Hey, blue boy,” Nyma greeted him as she joined him in the sand, scrubbing her scales like he was. “What’s got you so blue?”

“Bet I can guess,” Rolo said sympathetically, scrubbing his own scales in the sand on Lance’s other side. “We heard about your punishment.”

Lance groaned, rolling his eyes. “Has the whole kingdom heard by now?” He asked scathingly, glaring off into the distance.

“Kinda, yeah,” Nyma said, mouth quirked to the side apologetically. “We heard from some of our neighbors.”

Lance groaned again, lying back in the sand to stare up at the surface in longing and frustration. “And you guys came to comfort me?” he asked, voice small and purposefully pathetic.

Nyma giggled at his attempt to gather sympathy, and Rolo joined him down on the sea floor. “Kinda,” he said, hands laced together over his stomach. “We were just thinking on our way over here. Like, your dad said you couldn’t visit any of the shipwrecks, right?”

“Yup,” Lance affirmed, popping the _p_.

“See, that’s what we thought,” Nyma said, joining her friends on the sand. “He said _you_ couldn’t go to the shipwrecks.”

Lance frowned, catching onto her meaning; he felt a bubble of hope in his stomach. They weren't saying what he thought they were... were they?

“But he didn’t say _we_ couldn’t go to the shipwrecks,” Rolo finished with a grin, turning his head to look Lance dead on.

Lance’s eyes widened, and he rapidly turned his head to look at both of their grinning faces, heaving in a big breath of surprise. “No way,” he breathed, lifting himself off the sand to look at them both as they sat up to look at him. “You—you two would do that for me?”

“Of course, Lance,” Rolo said, grin softening a touch. “We know how much that stuff makes you happy.”

“You’re our friend,” Nyma said, tilting her head sweetly. “We want you to be happy. We may not be as into human stuff as you are, but we can bring you back things we think you might like for your collection.”

Lance thought he might burst from the emotions he was feeling; he could feel his eyes stinging with his happiness, just as they did when he was sad. He pounced on his friends with a huge hug, repeating his thanks over and over again.

"You two are the best!" He cried, grin bright as the sun.

"Eh," Rolo said, shrugging a shoulder. "Friends help friends follow their dreams."

"Actually," Nyma quipped, pulling her friends up with her, "It's more like, 'friends help friends rebel against their royal parent's wishes.'"

Lance laughed, heart full and giddy. "I'll take it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Hope you enjoyed, please leave a comment of whatever you like! Take care <333
> 
> HMU and talk to me about anything, i love making friends <3
> 
> Tumblr: (main) @chyeahlex16 or @bi-ladin (Voltron-specific) [also these would've been links if ao3 liked me :^)]  
> SC: @chyeahlex16

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! What was your favorite part? Did you like the chapter? Have any questions about it? Feel the need to keyboard smash instead of use words? Send a million hearts and/or other faces? Got a long essay-comment you wanna share? I absolutely thrive off of comments, I love them all, no joke. Any little thing leaves me smiling and feeling good for the whole day, which motivates me a lot to write more! I like being told I'm doing a good job lmaooo 
> 
> HMU and we can chat it up:
> 
> Tumblr: [@fringiplier](http://fringeiplier.tumblr.com) or [@bi-ladin](http://bi-ladin.tumblr.com)
> 
> Thank you, take care! <3333


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